I have written before that I usually don’t pass along stories of people with FASD convicted or accused of murder. My daughter faces enough challenges without people assuming that prenatal exposure to alcohol makes her innately dangerous.
The Fatal Link: The Connection Between School Shooters and the Brain Damage from Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol by Jody Allen Crowe is a book that links prenatal alcohol exposure with senseless, brutal murders. A teacher, principal and school administrator, Crowe has been on the front lines. He has seen the devastation, the impaired learning, the poor emotional control and the resulting behaviors. He “gets it.” Like me, he walks around looking at the world through FASD colored glasses. He sees it everywhere.
The author researched seven school shootings in Minnesota and Wisconsin. A”prototype” profile for a person with FAS was used to determine whether or not the person responsible for committing a crime had behaviors typical of a person with FAS.
What I found was irrefutable… In every case, the behavior of the shooter fit research-based social and academic exhibitions of brain damage. In four cases, heavy prenatal exposure to alcohol is absolutely confirmed. (page 117)
And, no one asks. Is it possible that there is a link between prenatal exposure to alcohol, emotional instability, brain damage, faulty executive functioning and senseless murder? In my opinion, the strength of this book is that it invites future researchers to answer the questions. Perhaps future police investigations will ask…
3 responses so far ↓
Jody Allen Crowe // 14 October 2009 at 8:18 am |
Thank you for your comments. I sometimes feel cursed with what I know. Yes, like you, I see the world through the filter of brain damage from prenatal exposure to alcohol.
I have founded Healthy Brains for Children and am establishing chapters wherever people want to volunteer in their communities to stop the devastation of prenatal exposure to alcohol.
Kari // 14 October 2009 at 5:00 pm |
Jody is a passionate man with a message that needs to be heard. I have to admit that I was very concerned that Ben’s teachers would think of him as a possible danger at school if they read this book but then I realized after reading it that this book is all about preventing those problems and reducing our kids’ frustration.
I’ll add that I’ve gotten to know Jody personally in the past few years. He’s a good guy and I have a ton of respect for him.
Thanks for writing about the book, Julie. I’ve wondered what other parents thought when they read it. ~Kari
Laurie // 14 October 2009 at 10:47 pm |
Being the mom of a FASD child, that article tugs at my heart. Instead of causing people to fear my child, I wish it would motivate doctors and professionals to correctly DIAGNOIS FASD in children. What a world of difference it would make if a child were given guidance at age 5 instead of at age 15 while in juve hall.
Thanks for sharing!